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Logically, Etho knew Joel would get hurt. Decked Out never left one unscathed. You’d die one way or the other, and inexperienced players were bound to get bitten, hit, stabbed or blasted even with the help of the Hermits.
Logically, he should not have been as upset seeing Joel walk out of the dungeon with significantly more bruises than when he’d gone in.
Still, he pulled him aside the first chance he got — that being the first moment Grian let Joel go. He quietly dragged him up the stairs to the testing chamber for the game sounds. The other quietly stuttered some protest, but he only wrestled his arm free so they could hold hands instead.
When they made it to the top, Joel gave him a confused look. The noise of others in the hall just barely made it up there with them. “What’s going on, Etho? You know Jimmy’s your teammate, you shouldn’t tell me all your secrets. Though I wouldn’t complain,” he joked, but there was an edge of worry to his voice. As if they were there for Etho, and not him.
“I’m fine. Just … wanted to check up on you. That ravager hit you pretty hard.”
Joel shrugged his concern away immediately with a laugh. “It’s fine, I’m fine! Nothing I can’t handle. Besides, don’t you guys run this dungeon a few times a day? If anything, I should be worrying about all of you!”
He sighed. Instead of arguing, he placed his hands gently on the sides of Joel’s face. He ran his thumb over one of the bruises littering his face and swallowed bitterly. His admiration for Tango’s ravagers had diminished greatly now that they’d hurt his soulmate. Even more so when Joel winced at the still sore spots.
“How bad is it?” he found himself asking. Because after all, they weren’t soulmates anymore. Neither of them still felt the pain of the other. Etho had no clue where he was hurt, and the thought frustrated him beyond reason. He still missed constantly having Joel right beside him, feeling double the heartbeat in his chest and hell he could even say he missed their shared pain, as inconvenient as it had been. Not feeling him was much, much worse.
The other frowned at him for a second before a look of understanding flashed over his face. The same thoughts seemed to run through his head. “Right, you don’t know.” He swallowed, taking the hands from his face. “I’m okay, I promise. Nothing worse than what you’re seeing.”
Etho sighed, then nodded. His eyes fell, shame suddenly making his cheeks heat up. “Sorry, I don’t know why I’m still stuck on … on Double Life.”
“Hey, you’re not the only one. I miss you too, y’know?” And his face was both gentle and amused, the corner of his mouth pulling up into a smile. “I still wake up scared because I can’t feel your heartbeat sometimes.”
The words were mutters shared in a quiet corner, so soft only they could hear the weight they held. The longing for past times they held.
Joel hadn’t let go of his hands. He pulled one closer until it rested over his heart and Etho felt his own skip a beat at the familiar pulse. If he pretended enough, it would beat in sync with Joel’s. In turn, he took a hand to slot it over his own chest.
He let his eyes flutter shut. For a moment it was just him and Joel. Like it had been for so many nights that spring, during Double Life. Just their souls connected by a thick wire that could only be partly severed afterwards. Because as temporary as that game had been, the effects would stay for eternity.
“I’ll come to you after my next run. If anything hurts, you’ll be the first to know, okay?” Joel broke the quiet.
Opening his eyes, he took in his soulmate. He nodded. It would have to do. Their bond may have been broken, but they would do whatever it took to imitate a fraction of it. Just to feel one with each other again.
“And I’ll keep an eye on the dungeon, make sure it’s playing nice.” With that, he could manage a smile again. He leaned forward to press his forehead against Joel’s — something they’d often done back then.
The other grinned up at him. “Are you sure you can handle both me and Jimmy?”
He just scoffed. “I think I’ll be fine. You focus on getting through the dungeon, yeah? I can’t help you once you’re inside.”
“I bet Jimmy needs your help more than I do anyways.” The mischief returned to his face — Etho had already started to miss it.
And as if they’d jinxed it, Jimmy’s voice rang out to call for Etho. They both sighed as they were forced to step away from each other. He instantly missed the heat of being so close, of the hand on his chest.
“I’ll see you after.” With that and a curt nod, Etho stepped back to the stairs.
“You better!” Joel made no move to follow. He just saluted and let him turn to find Jimmy. “Keep him alive for me, please? It’d be such a nice change from the games!”
“I’ll try!” He laughed, not bothering to hide the giddiness of just being around Joel again. Maybe he could drag him off to play other games on Hermitcraft later. It didn’t really matter. Whatever he could do just to spend time with him, anything was fine.